Corruption
by Apples Who Dance With Oranges
Summary: Ten years ago a war was fought between Johto and Kanto, but the flames of destruction were extinguished by the Hero of Kanto. Now, years after the war the two regions enjoy their time of peace and stories of the Hero who disappeared after the war are still told. However, corruption has taken over Kanto and the strength of their peace will be tested in both blood and tears.


**Chapter One.**

**Please leave a comment with your thoughts/questions on the first chapter! There may be a few more grammar mistakes than I would like and I'll work on those by the time I upload the next chapter, but anyways I truly hope you guys enjoy the start of my story!**

The gentle country side winds blew through the grassy field, gently brushing through the near by tree tops and causing several startled Pidgey to take flight. Parked on the side of an old dirt road was a dark gray military jeep, three uniformed figures casually stood around it as they embraced the gentle gust of wind. The three uniformed soldiers were members of the Kanto Royal Army, two of them still new to the military life and one who was all too accustomed with the military life.

"Lieutenant do you mind if I ask you a question?" The soldier who stood beside the driver's seat of the topless jeep asked curiously as he starred off into the distance as he watched the startled Pidgey disappear in the distance. He wore the standard uniform of an enlisted Kanto soldiers which consisted of black combat boots with tan field trousers which had protective knee pads attached, he wore a black belt with a blackish dark blue undershirt, and over his undershirt he wore a dark olive green battle blouse which had black trimming on the cuffs and throughout the uniform. On his black shoulder tabs were white rank insignia which represented his rank.

Lance Corporal Harrison Hazuki.

"Ask away kid," The Lieutenant stated calmly as he took a long drag from his cigarette and unleashed a stream of smoke into the air like a ferocious Charizard. The man wore a similar uniform as Harrison did, but unlike the enlisted uniform his was made to properly represent his position as an officer. Instead of a undershirt he wore a tan button up shirt with a gray tie which he preferably wore in a loosened fashion and his rank insignia on is shoulders were gold instead of black and white.

First Lieutenant Matis Surge.

"Where did he go?" Harrison blurted out as his curiosity got the better of him and he lost his composure.

"Harrison," The third soldier muttered lowly as she was the only female of the three and sitting in the back of the jeep patiently waiting for the Lieutenant to finish his smoke. She wore the same uniform as Harrison wore, besides the fact she wore a female version of it which meant it was more fitted for a women's body compared to the men's uniform.

Private First Class Zoey Nozomi.

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that kid," Surge muttered lowly as a small puff of smoke escaped his lips as it was leftover from his last drag of his cigarette.

Harrison awkwardly shuffled in his feet as he had been preparing himself for weeks to ask Surge this question, "The Hero from the last war."

There was no hiding it that Kanto had shared its fair share of blood shed in the past years and while it was nothing that threatened all existing life in Kanto the past war was something that had great possibility of growing into more if it had gone any longer. Ten years ago, Kanto and Johto had been in a border war for territory in Mt Silver and the war consisted of small skirmishes and artillery barrages that went on for three years. While many who lived close to the Mt Silver territory considered it a war the wealthy who lived in Central Kanto and the fortunate who lived farther East saw it as a small conflict over land. During, the end of the war however both regions grew tired of the border war and both started planning on a full scale counterattack that many believed would end with one region being absorbed by the other. However, one soldier and a group of his followers ended the war. The myth was that he marched over to the Johto border and destroyed their whole planned invasion force, other stories say that he unleashed the power of Arceus upon them. Regardless of how it went the border war ended and the soldier along with his followers disappeared. In the end, Kanto won three quarters of Mt Silver and now the mainland of Johto could been seen from the military defense wall they created on their border.

"You've heard the stories," Surge plainly stated.

Zoey shuffled over towards Harrison's side of the jeep, "What's your deal right now?"

"Lieutenant I've done my research and I know you served with him during the war," Harrison blurted out once again as Zoey simply face palmed at how he completely ignored her and decided to continue his barrage of questions and statements.

Surge fell silent.

Zoey cringed as she feared that Surge would lash out at Harrison for asking so many questions.

"I like a soldier who do his research it simply means that he will last longer on the battlefield," Surge stated with a low snicker as he dropped the ashy bud of his cigarette onto the ground and squashed it underneath boot, "If you were so dedicated as you were with researching about the Hero as you were with your duties than maybe you would of made Corporal by now."

Zoey giggled at his comment.

"Lieutenant," Harrison whined in defeat as Surge climbed into the passenger side of the jeep and Harrison took his spot as the driver.

Surge roughly cracked his neck, "Lets finish our runs and lets get back to base."

* * *

The early morning sun shinned down upon Fort Oak, a Kanto Royal Army base located towards Northwest of Pallet Town and named after the famous Professor Oak. The base was far from being large, but wasn't exactly a small one ether. Fort Oak was known for its protection of the Pallet district and the safe guard of the villages that laid within the Southern foot of Mt Silver. Fort Oak was mostly filled with bored infantry soldier who talked about the old days, Military Police who gave out infractions just to make their days interesting, and other specialized soldiers who were forced to fill their days with mindless activities.

Peace was good and all, but it made bored soldiers.

"What was your deal yesterday?" Zoey chirped out as the red head unleashed a stream of water onto Surge's personal jeep that the Lieutenant had Harrison drive through a mud pile with as punishment for all his questions. Harrison shrugged at her question as he took off his battle blouse like Zoey had so he wouldn't get it wet while performing their morning duty, "You're lucky he didn't yell at you."

"I was just curious," Harrison groaned as he soaked the sponge in the soapy water bucket before applying it to the mud stained hood.

Zoey frowned at his expression on his face, "Well is it true?"

Harrison's face lit up by Zoey who had put on an act in order to make it look like she was interested. Harrison eagerly leapt over to her nearly knocking over his bucket in the process, "Yeah! The Lieutenant was enlisted back in the day when he served in the same company as the Hero. By the time the war was over I believe the Lieutenant was a Sergeant First Class."

"Actually I was a Master Sergeant," Surge's voice rung through the air causing Harrison to shiver in horror as he had been caught talking about the one thing that Surge had told him to drop, "But close enough I guess."

"Good Morning, Sir!" The two soldiers cried out as they both snapped to attention and saluted the officer. Surge returned the salute and the two quickly dropped their salutes, entering their at ease stance. Harrison could feel his cold sweat running down his neck and Zoey gulped lowly at the thought of Surge shoving the garden hoes down Harrison's throat and then filling him up like a water ballon.

Although, she did have to admit that the thought was slightly humorous.

"Lance Corporal, you truly don't know when to stop beating a dead Ponyta," Surge sighed heavily as he annoyingly rubbed the side of his forehead.

"Such a morbid expression," Zoey muttered lowly.

"Sir, I apologize! I'm just truly curious what really happened after the war!" Harrison cried out as both military discipline and fear caused the volume of his voice to increase rapidly as his sentence went on.

"What really happened?" Surge muttered with a sly grin on his face, "So you don't believe all those war reports and bed time stories about the Great Kanto Hero?"

"I never got bed time stories," Zoey muttered lowly once again.

"Sir, it's not that I don't believe them... Um... It's just I find them hard to believe," Harrison explained as he was finding it hard to find the words to explain himself.

Surge grinned at Harrison's answer as he brought over an old wooden crate of car soap and took a seat on top of it, "Questioning things is what makes you Human, but it's also what gets soldiers killed."

Harrison and Zoey both shared a confused look on their face, nether one of them had ever seen combat as they had joined the military years after the war.

"How long have you two been in the Army so far?" Surged asked curiously as the two had been working as his aides ever since they arrived at Fort Oak.

"We both were in the same Training Company in Basic Training and went to Reconnaissance school together," Harrison explained as he tapped on his lower lip while trying to remember how far back that was, "For about a year and a half."

"Harrison got in trouble in basic training a lot," Zoey snickered playfully.

"Yet, he's the one who made Lance Corporal first," Surge stated with a sly grin as Zoey blushed at his comment. It was true that it took Harrison longer to get use to being a soldier back in basic training, but once he got the hang of it he quickly started to impress his instructors and superiors, "When I first met the Hero he had been in about the same amount of time."

Both Zoey and Harrison shared an expression of interest like two little kids seeing their presents under the Christmas tree for the first time.

"He was just a kid back then but war can really change that," Surge started to explain as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his pack of Lucky Persian Cigarettes. Pulling out one of his cigarettes he popped it into his mouth and pulled out a lighter, flipping open the lighter he watched as the flame danced like a Hitmonchan dodging an incoming punch boxing style, "At first I thought he was good as dead. Although, the kid surprised me on the battlefield and while many of my friends lost their compassion over there, he never lost a single strand of his."

"What happened when he went over to end the war? Where did they go after they won the war?" Harrison asked eagerly as he was nearly in Surge's face. Surge released his usual booming manly laugh at the sight of the eager soldier, but then he quickly threw on a more serious look.

"I wouldn't know," Surge muttered lowly as if he sounded defeated in some way, "He left without a word."

Harrison watched as he could see the hurt within Surge's eyes showed that the Lieutenant in some way carried the burden of what happened to the Hero. It was as if Surge felt like he cold of helped the Hero return home, the burden of what he could of done and what he had done during the war left scars within his eyes.

"First Lieutenant," A voice called out as they all turned to see a uniformed officer making his way towards the three. Surge quickly dropped the cigarette from his lips and stood at attention. Harrison and Zoey quickly followed his lead as the three of them gave the higher ranking officer a proper salute and greeting.

The officer held the rank of Captain and was well known not only throughout Fort Oak, but was well known throughout the whole Kanto Royal Army. He once held the title of Kanto's Finest which he obtained during the war, but near the end of the war a set of events which were never revealed to the public caused Red to go into self exile for three years and when he returned he was demoted down the rank structure. He lost his former rank and title, but he obtained a new nickname by many soldiers as Red The Ruthless, as his Company won countless war games due to his sometimes questionable tactics. Many of the newly graduated academy officers shook in fear when the learned they'd be facing against the combat hardened and self exiled officer.

Captain Red.

"Captain I thought you had a meeting with the higher ups," Surge stated as Red motioned at them to return to at ease.

"It starts in a few minutes," Red stated coldly, "I need you to collect the other platoon leaders and meet at my officers by 1300."

"Yes, sir!" Surge echoed loudly as Red nodded and started to walk away.

"Also, Lieutenant enough with the kid stories. They're soldiers now they don't have time to hear about a bedtime Hero that only fools and children believe in," Red coldly added on as Surge nodded in agreement and Zoey gulped lowly in fear. With that being said Red disappeared around the corner and Surge left the two without saying another word.

"The Captain gives me shivers," Zoey whined loudly as she could feel her skin crawling just thinking about him.

"They're totally hiding something," Harrison declared as Zoey always said his curiosity was gonna get him kicked out one day and the way things were going that day would be sooner than she expected.

"Harrison please just let it go," Zoey stated as she was getting worried that he may be digging something up that he shouldn't.

Harrison gave her a look, "Aren't you curious also?"

"I am," Zoey stated as she shuffled her foot in the dirt, "I'm just more worried about you."

Harrison grinned at her, "I knew you loved me."

Zoey turned bright red, "It's not like that! Just get back to cleaning the jeep!"

"Hey, I'm the higher ranking one I give the orders!" Harrison cried out as he just barely dodged the bucket of water that Zoey had thrown at his head.

* * *

The conference room was silent as Colonel Koga glared out the window his eyes watched as a platoon of soldiers marched their way to the chow hall and two soldiers sprayed each other as they were washing a mud stained military jeep. He slowly turned around and released a loud sigh as he slowly walked away from the light that the window had casted within the room, "The King is on his death bed."

A low croaking sound escaped the thick lips of Koga's partner, a Toxicroak. The poison like frog was something that many of the Fort Oak soldiers feared as its soulless gaze caused even the bravest of soldiers to shiver. The Pokemon had seen many battles with Koga in the past and its face was the last thing many fallen Johto soldiers saw before the darkness of death took them.

"I fear this is what Johto has been waiting for," Major Sabrina growled lowly as she despised the region of Johto and their military, regardless of the peace treaty they had signed with the region after the war. Sabrina was both beautiful and vicious, her skills as a leader and beauty had won over countless men who would march to hell and back for her.

Red slowly rose up from the seat at the end of the conference room's table, "I have met with several Johto military officials within the past months and I promise you they share no desire for war."

Koga spat angrily, "That's foolishness speaking! The moment the King dies and his son takes the throne they'll attack when we're weak, this time they won't only want Mt Silver they'll want all of Kanto."

"Colonel, I understand what you're saying but I myself am on good terms with Captain Falkner of the Johto Air Corps and he says they wish to start a good relationship with Kanto once the new King takes over," Red explained as he truly disliked Koga's quick accusations and short temper.

"You're a coward, Red. Falkner and you were mortal enemies during the war, how can you call him a friend?" Koga spat as he knew very well that Red's unit during the war clashed with Falkner's unit on several occasions. The two trading blow for blow, never being able to defeat the other throughout their time on the battlefield, "You're also one of the few responsible for the way the war ended."

Red's fist tightened at Koga's tone of voice, "I did what I had to do for the region."

"I didn't realize betrayal was in our honor code," Sabrina giggled softly as the women had an aery feel to her feel as if she could read your every thoughts.

"Regardless, I truly don't think the new King can lead us to victory when this war does come." Koga stated calmly as Red just glared at him as he truly believed that Koga was a soldier who needed a war in order to function. He was a man with great pride and when the King didn't declare the orders to storm the mainland of Johto after the Hero destroyed their invasion force he was furious and nearly ordered his units to continue marching forward.

"What are you saying?" Red asked in a low voice.

"Nothing Captain," Koga sated with a sly grin, "I'm not the ring leader this time. I'm simply just a pawn in this scheme."

"Maybe you'll get a chance to redeem yourself Red The Ruthless," Sabrina giggled softly as she passed by Red.

Koga just starred out the window once again his eyes plastered to the peak of Mt Silver in the distance, "We'll do what that pesky Hero never could do. We'll ensure Kanto's safety once and for all."

**For those who didn't get it Zoey is based off Dawn's rival from Sinnoh anime and Harrison is based off Ash's rival from the Johto Pokemon League anime, the rest of the characters you should of been able to connect together easily with the anime/game if not please say something and I'll make it clear.**


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